The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Wednesday it would focus in the period on ownership financing, derivative debt instruments, capital market instruments, cross-border investments and green technologies.

The London-based bank said that Slovenia was one of the most developed countries in the region, adding that it saw room for improvement primarily in innovation, corporate governance and energy intensification.

In the medium term, the continuation of the strong economic growth in the recent years will depend on further structural reforms, including the growth of productivity of the private sector as one of the key ones, the EBRD said.

The EBRD endorsed the first project in Slovenia in 1993, and has since invested more than EUR 1bn in a total of 85 projects in the country.

It has participated in the privatisation of the NLB bank two times and together with the US fund Apollo, it acquired the country's second largest bank NKBM in 2016.

The bank has also invested in reinsurer Pozavarovalnica Sava and industrial companies such as Salonit Anhovo, Calcit, Paloma, SIJ and Fructal.

The EBRD is being mentioned among the potential financiers of the new railway between the port of Koper and Divača, if the talks with the European Investment Bank fall through.